Microbial changes in drinking water are a result of interactions between different microorganisms, bacteria, viruses and protozoa. Which changes occur depend, among other things, on:
- Access to growth-limiting nutrients
- Presence of disinfectants
- Water temperature, residence time, pipe material and other environmental conditions
- Interaction with the biofilm in the pipes and with microorganisms that live in the biofilm
It is also important to understand that the distribution system is not a static system but can be more like an organism that is constantly evolving. We replace pipes, repair leaks, reverse flow directions and more. All of this can affect water quality from a microbial perspective.
The industry works with research and development in order to better understand how different preparation methods affect the biostability of the water. Other major questions for the future are how we can develop and introduce faster analysis methods for drinking water quality – the methods we use today have response times of up to 7 days. As we replace the methods with rapid online measurement, another big future question arises – what do we do with all the data and how do we convert the data into information that can help us predict water quality?
